There is no such thing as failure, the real question is- what did you learn?

#tbt to one year ago and my family’s 27-mile backpacking expedition to conquer Utah’s tallest peak, Kings Peak.

This beautiful 13,527ft mountain features some amazing views and is no joke in monsoon season. After backpacking 7 miles and camping over night, we left early enough, but hiking with young ones and little legs through a very technical boulder field took longer than expected.

Eventually the weather closed in and we were forced to turn back for safety reasons a quarter-mile from the summit. We were greeted with rain, hail and lightning as we scampered our way back down.

As a family we’ve bagged many peaks, but Kings Peak, the highest in our state taught us that some days it all works out and sometimes it remains elusive. What matters is that you gave it a try and are willing to go back and try again. Mother Nature is the strongest woman I know.